The invention comprises systems and methods for partitioning displays, and in particular, displays of interferometric modulator displays. In one embodiment, a display system includes one driving circuit configured to provide signals based on video data intended for display, and a bi-stable display comprising an array having a plurality of bi-stable display elements. The array is configured to display video data using signals received from the driving circuit, and the driving circuit is configured to partition the array into two or more fields, each field including at least one bi-stable display element, and refresh each of the two or more fields in accordance with a refresh rate associated with each field. In another embodiment, a method of displaying data on a display of a client device includes partitioning a bi-stable display of the client device into two or more fields, displaying video data in the two or more fields, and refreshing each of the two or more fields in accordance with a refresh rate that is associated with each field.